Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku - A Wind Waker Tale

A/N: I'm nor sure why but I managed to offend someone by pairing Gonzo and Aryll up in this mess...so I will explain how this is possible.
Gonzo, in my fan ficcy world is Tetra's older brother. (Different mothers - and no I have no intention of explaining that) - anyway...every princess has a guardian - Impa was not available - Gonzo was. Relatively speaking - Aryll is 17 and Gonzo is somewhere in the range of 24 or 25 sumthing like that. While in today's society that's a rather large gap in ages...for the 'time period' this is in - it is not...

So, hopefully this clears things up for you and said unnamed individual won't have to send me anymore emails to save me from the fires of h*** where I am so obviously destined o.O

And now back to the show...

Chapter Twenty: Sleeping Beauties

After his boat spun to a halt, Link looked around looked at the tiny health fairies floating this way and that on the breeze. He opened his pack, pulled out the bottles with the fairies, and set them on the hatch. All three fairies no longer retained any of their usual iridescent color and appeared almost as clear as the glass in the afternoon light. Link picked up one of the bottles and looked carefully at the tiny health fairy inside. Her eyes were closed but he couldn't see anything else unusual. He sighed as he set it back with the others. Still, Link found it very unsettling to see them like that. Saimon popped out of his hat, flew a little sideways, and said, "How are you not dizzy after that?"

Link smiled but did not reply. Instead, he reached into his pack, pulled out his ocarina, and placed it near the bottles. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the song he heard within the images the King of Red Lions sent him. It was very similar to the song that drifted in over the water on Great Fish. He was still for a long time and did not say anything until something occurred to him. He opened his eyes and fixed them on the blue mote that floated in front of him and asked "Saimon?"

"Yes Wind Waker?"

"What do you really remember of your time as Kage?"

Saimon bobbed in front of him for a moment or two. He turned a curious orange color and said, "Very little."

"I wonder why?" Link asked himself. Another puzzle, so he took some time to ponder, in the quiet of the Fairy Queen's crater on what he'd been told so far. What he decided in the end was, he was no closer to an answer. Saimon's memories, or rather Kage's most likely held the answers he was looking for. His stomach growled, distracting him long enough that he remembered to eat. He pulled a small packet of food out and munched on a salt water biscuit.

"Saimon, didn't any of the story Jabun told us remind you of anything?" he asked the fairy.

Saimon suddenly turned a brighter orange and looked fit to pop and Link decided he might hurt himself as he strained to remember something that was just out of reach.

"It's alright if you can't remember Saimon, there's obviously strong magic involved. I don't know what will happen if you force too much. Whatever's there is there, if it's missing well, we'll look for it someplace else." The fairy regained his normal blue and flew over the bottles and there he stayed while Link finished his lunch.

"What was the last thing you do remember about it?"

Saimon did not reply right away. He drifted to the orangey glow and the fairy shivered. "Fear. An endless rain. A very bright light." the fairy quieted again and added, "great pain." Saimon drifted into a sickly yellow color and said, "then nothing."

That made sense, Link thought, so he asked, "How did you know where to find Al?"

"I do not remember."

"Can you remember anything about Al's father?"

"Only his name."

"Yes, you told me that already, but you also said I was a lot like him, in what way?"

"He too was very curious," Saimon paused and added, "and persistent."

Paradox, Link thought, and pressed the question further. "How could you know that if you only remember his name? Did you ever meet him?"

"Yes," Saimon said and brightened, but just as quickly drifted back into that strange orange and said, "No."

Second paradox.

"Well Saimon either you did or you didn't, which is it?"

"Both," Saimon said but sounded confused and his orange glow intensified.

"Did Al's mother ever mention him?" Link asked as he watched the fairy very closely, it was obvious this line of questions was causing a great deal of stress for the fairy, but Link needed answers.

"Yes," Saimon said and the orange subsided a little. "The Lady always said that he was a very good man."

"That's it?" Link pressed, but Saimon would not or could not answer. Finally, the fairy drifted back to his normal blue tinge and Link thought, Another damn wall.

Saimon still did not reply and Link decided Al's father must be the same as the man from Jabun's story and the weird little vision. If so, that would explain a lot. It was impossible to tell how much time passed between the Shadows entrapment and the golden-eyed man's second encounter with the Fairy Queen. Whatever the wish, the Fairy Queen meant for Kage and Kageri's bindings to last for as long as all those involved, survived. However, what if she only meant the bindings to last within Dalkin and Delia's lifetime? They were beyond that date by at least a few hundred years. It also didn't explain why Al seemed to be afraid of him when they first met.

Jabun said the young man in his story and the shadow were similar of face, but one was dark and one light. Link decided he must look similar to one or possibly both of them. His thoughts wandered and he said aloud to himself, "I wonder what happened to those dolls?"

"They are with Dalkin."

"Really?"

"He kept them with him in the hope they would help him recover his memories."

"Well, how would they do that?"

"I do not know, they have not moved in all the time I have been with him. Though his younger brother insisted that he keep them with him always."

Link rubbed his head and said, "There is way too much I don't know." He sat in silence for a while and mulled over all the new information he managed to pry out of Saimon. His only conclusion was; there was a huge gaping hole in what he did know and it was just too big for him disregard. Link decided to set that problem aside for now, there was one thing he wanted to know and he was sure Saimon could answer without being sent into any magical walls.

"Hey Saimon, how did you manage to get Tetra and me into that garden?"

"The ocarina." The fairy responded.

"Huh?"

"There is fairy magic trapped within it."

Link remembered the Great Fairy on Outset blew into it and that at least explained why she did that. "Saimon, you and Al didn't by any chance visit this island before you came to Outset did you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To see if Venus could fix me. She could not, but said she would think about it and send an answer soon."

"Oh," Link said, that confirmed his suspicions for the Great Fairy of Outset's appearance but still not Tetra's. "How did you find her?"

"Who?" Saimon asked.

"Tetra, you know the Princess."

"I did not find her."

"You didn't?" Link's interest was piqued.

"No, you did."

"I was unconscious, remember? How could I do that?"

"I merely asked for the one with whom you have the strongest connection and hoped they would be able to help."

"And you got her?" Link asked in disbelief.

"This surprises you?" Saimon sounded very confused.

"Keep in mind the last time I saw her I considered throttling her, and a few weeks before that she threatened to kill me," Link paused and laughed a little. "Actually, I think she tried to." He frowned and said, "Anyway, I figured we were pretty done with each other at that point. We just stopped talking to one another, like none of it mattered." And to himself he said, "I really got to stop calling her Princess."

"I do not understand," Saimon said. "Is she not the Princess?"

"Hmmm?" Link looked up again. "Yes she is," he said as he stood and stepped out of the boat. He waded across the little stream to stretch his legs and said, "But for whatever reason, Tetra was never very pleased by that idea." In passing he thought, 'It probably didn't help that you left her in that damn basement.'

"It is odd that she answered then," Saimon said as he bobbed around, still a little on the green side, but brighter in appearance. "You got along with her in the garden, yes?"

"Yes, we did manage to be civil that time didn't we," Link said amazed, "More of a temporary cease fire, really."

"I do not understand."

"As weird as this sounds, and even if we may not get along all the time, I just can't shake the feeling that whatever this is really all about. I'm going to need her with me to beat it."

"Does the Princess know this?"

"I think so," Link said looking up at the sky. "At least I hope so. That may be why she came the first time. Actually, I have no idea why she came at all. I am utterly clueless when it comes to her," Link said and looked back at the fairy again. "You see, I wasn't completely honest with Al when he asked me to describe that daydream I had on the ship. Before you two showed up, I'd been wondering where she might be and began to play a certain song on the ocarina. It's one I've been practicing because I wanted to play it for her. Of course I was assuming she'd speak to me again."

Link eyed the fairy, took a deep breath and continued, "Anyway, when I looked around, I was in that garden and there she was. I almost didn't recognize her, I've really only seen her with her hair down like that two or three times...but when she opened her mouth there was no mistaking who she was. I'm babbling right?" The fairy just floated without comment.

Link sighed as he sat beneath one of the trees and said, "I suppose I should get to the point. There's something about that song that calls to her. I didn't actually realize it until later and I can't really remember, when I remembered it. It was just sort of 'there' one day, all stuck in my head, just yelling to get out. I'm not even sure why I remember it so clearly, but I got a feeling that I should keep that to myself."

Link said nothing for a while, and his thoughts returned to the binding the Fairy Queen placed on Kage and Kageri. Every magical binding has a key...Link rubbed his eyes as he realized he was contemplating breaking it. If he unbound one of the tekuragari, there was the possibility he'd be causing more harm than good, but he needed Saimon to remember his time as Kage.

Link mulled a bit more and thought, Maybe that remembering song would work. It was a huge risk and Link wracked his brains but just couldn't think of a better alternative. When he noticed the sun was getting lower in the sky, he got up and went back over to the boat and gathered up the bottles and ocarina then returned to the tree.

"What will you do now?" Saimon asked.

"Fill up that hole, I hope...and Saimon?"

"Yes Wind Waker?"

"Try to remember the good in Al, okay?"

Saimon did not answer, but did turn a brighter blue. Link took that for a yes, raised the flute and hesitated again. "Saimon? One more thing....I'm really, really sorry..." Without another word, Link put the ocarina to his lips and began playing the version he pulled from the vision. The melody sounded happy and sad at the same time and Saimon lost his glow for a few moments and cocked his head to listen. The Fairy's eyes grew wider and though the glow returned it was that weird orange color again.

Saimon suddenly started to spin. Faster and faster, the fairy twirled into an ever-tightening circle in front of Link. This time though, he didn't close his eyes and continued playing while he watched Saimon. Link knew it was all part of the same and if he was right, then this had to be done.

Saimon now shook and jerked back and forth, as if a puppet on a string. The orange glow intensified and Link did not slow or stop playing. Just as the music reached it peak, the glow surrounding the little guy exploded away from him.

Link dropped the ocarina and dove to catch the now unconscious fairy, but just before Saimon hit his hands; a globe of iridescent fairy magic surrounded the fairy. Link got up and carefully pushed at the globe. It floated there in front of him with Saimon still unconscious inside. Link gave a little sigh of relief as he brushed himself off and waited.

"Welcome Wind Waker."

Link turned to answer but took a step back and said, "Whoa." Before him was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on. She sparkled with more colors than he'd ever seen, set off by a pair of bright translucent wings. "Whoa."

The woman smiled and Link shook his head when a child's voice came from her mouth. "What you see before you is only the image of my former self." She slipped back into her more childlike form and said wistfully, "I can no longer hold that form."

"The promise?"

"Yes," she said with a touch of melancholy, "but a promise made must be kept."

"Why did you offer it then?"

"I thought him ill-used."

Link thought it odd to hear Venus speak that way. He found it hard to remember her actual age when she looked so much like a little kid. "But wasn't it his choice in the end?"

"Yes, but the Goddesses did not like my interfering with the destinies of the Shadow's children."

"They weren't meant to survive were they?"

"No." When he frowned, she added, "Do not be fooled by the appearances of today, Wind Waker. Dalkin and Delia were selfish, unkind, and cruel hearted children. It was no accident that Hito chose them. For my part, my appearance is a sort of punishment from the Three as my abilities are now limited to what they were at the founding."

"Is Saimon going to be alright?"

"He is no longer Saimon, but Kage once again. You have done what even Hito himself could not."

"It worked then?"

"Yes, you have broken the binding I placed on him. From this time on, he will have to decide what his future will hold." So saying the Fairy Queen popped her bubble of magic and Saimon/Kage floated for a moment then seemed to wake up with a start. Confused and disoriented, he looked from one face to the other. A look of pure fright crossed his features and he flew off without a backward glance.

"I guess I won't be getting anymore answers from him. I really hope I did the right thing." Link said as his eyes followed the fairy's flight up and out of the crater. "Where do you think he's going?"

"I cannot guess his fate, though I hope his choices are good ones."

Link nodded and picked up one of the bottles, "Anything you can do about these beauties?"

"Open the bottles and release them."

Carefully Link opened each and as he did, their crystalline forms slipped from the bottles and coalesced into a silvery mist that surrounded him. Link felt immediately invigorated followed by a sharp pang of guilt. "Why did you have me do that if you knew that was going to happen?"

"Do not be saddened Wind Waker, would it have been any different had they used their energy to sustain you in battle? They were joyous to be able to fulfill their purpose." Venus looked up at the sky then and closed her eyes. She shivered a little and when she looked back at him, he could see she was not as at ease as before. "Please feel free to gather more. They will remain safe."

"What about Senkyoku?"

"She is with your sister."

Link just looked at her as if she sprouted an extra head. "How the...?" he decided to wonder about that later and determined to ask about something else, "Do you know where Tetra is?"

"The Princess has made her way to the Forest Haven."

Link nodded, so she was headed back too. He was pulled from his thoughts by something cold and wet on his nose. He looked up and realized it was snowing. The Childlike Fairy Queen looked happy once again.

"Our time grows short, Hito has discovered where I am and will take steps to insure I do not interfere with his plans again. You must leave here quickly." Link frowned as he rushed to gather his things. As he did Venus lightly touched his arm and said, "This last thing I will tell you Wind Waker; The Princess already holds the key to her prison deep within herself, but as yet either does not wish to or chooses not to recognize this."

Link nodded as he climbed aboard the King of Red Lions. He conducted the Ballad of Gales and fixed an image of Outset Island clearly in his head. As the boat began to rise, snow flew off in all directions as it spun. When he looked back, he noticed for the first time the strange glow that surrounded him and the ship. Link looked over the edge as the strange bubble popped only to see Venus imprisoned in a solid piece of ice. A frozen statue in her own fountain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ties that Bind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saimon felt good, he'd done all he could to help the Hero and was puzzled when he said; "Try to remember the good in Al, okay?" The Wind Waker then raised the flute, and hesitated again. "Saimon? One more thing....I'm really, really sorry..." The Hero paused again briefly and Saimon did not answer, but the fairy thought, 'What was there to be sorry for?

Without another word, the Hero put the ocarina to his lips and began playing. The fairy listened and thought 'That is it! He has learned the song!' Saimon closed his eyes and a feeling of great joy filled his heart. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard a voice call to him.

*KAGE! KAGE! I CAN SENSE YOUR PRESENCE...*

The fairy's eyes flew open wide, but everything was obscured by that angry orange glow. The Wind Waker seemed to notice the change but did not stop playing. That voice, he knew that voice and it frightened him. Still the Hero played on, seemingly oblivious to his distress. It was in this moment that Saimon realized he wasn't Saimon anymore.

*KAGE!*

The fairy heard a strange crackling in his head, like breaking a looking glass. Kage looked up at the face before him and immediately panicked and backed away, Gah! he thought, It is him! He'd been pursued for many months by that one! At first, his attempts to escape only sent him spinning out of control, into tighter circles, no matter where he flew that man was there, always right behind them.

Kage felt faint from all the endless spinning. The music that one played, it seemed to surround him as it gained momentum and without warning, the spinning stopped. It was replaced by a jerking sensation as he felt himself tugged this way and that. When he could no longer remain conscious, Kage looked past the man and saw the worried face of his mother. Then all faded from view.

*KAGE*

(Master Hito!)

*AH* the voice paused. *SHOW ME WHERE YOU ARE KAGE*

The tekuragari obeyed and shivered as he felt a wave of cold air blow by him and begin to dispel the warmth of the crater. Unable to remain awake longer, everything faded to black.

Kage woke and found himself within a bubble of magic. Disoriented, he looked around for his sister, Kageri, but she was no longer with him. He still felt weak and closed his eyes again.

*COME BACK TO ME KAGE*

Without warning, the bubble around him popped and Kage struggled to orientate himself and fly straight. As he flew out of the crater he heard a second voice, all it said was:

<div align='center'>*Everyone deserves a second chance, even these two*</div>

Kage crested the lip of the crater and paused. He wondered at the young man below him who watched him fly away, but made no move to stop him. "Everyone deserves a second chance, even me."

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